DOOM II RPG in Review – Cacodemon-doo, my BFG is coming for you!

Doom is without a doubt an iconic game, truly bringing to life the genre of First-Person Shooters pioneered by Wolfenstein 3D. In this light it’s even more interesting that the first reincarnation of the legendary franchise on the mobile platform turned out to be a Turn-Based Action/RPG adaptation. Of course, the iDevice is home to DOOM Resurrection – an on-rail-shooter and a port of the original DOOM Classic , but still, this unique variation on the universe has graced the App Store as well in DOOM II RPG.

Sheath your mice, hide your keyboards FPS fans. Doom II RPG is, as the name suggests, a turn-based RPG based on the classic series. A distress call lures the team of marines and a scientist to a research facility on the Earth’s Moon. But all Hell truly breaks loose once they arrive. Demons and zombies are taking over the station and a group of scientist have formed a cult worshiping an evil entity that is slowly but surely taking over the station’s AI. Guess what, it’s up to you to save humanity… again…

Doom II RPG is sort of a cross between the classic old first person RPGs and the FPS genre. You observe the world from the same old First-person perspective but the movement is strictly turn-by-turn. Firing a weapon or consuming a health pack/armor boost or similar will cost a turn as well. Amazingly, this works quite well on the iDevice, especially considering the restrictions on the controls on the platform. To spice up the gameplay there are various minigames to avert your mind from the endless demon elimination. And thank goodness the developers included the series’ fan-favorites – secret rooms with extra goodies.

You can choose to control either the scientist, the marine or the sniper-like character with different starting attributes. As you kill monsters and use the various bits of stuff lying around you can level up and improve your stats. At the same time, I wasn’t able to notice any significant difference in doing so, except the slight max HP increase. The weapons, presented to you as you advance in the game, offer far more difference in gameplay than the alleged stat changes, though the effects of the various Nano drinks can often save the day, or at least – give that extra edge.

Technically the game is a mixed dish. The Java-roots are immediately visible in the interface decisions, from the awkwardly slapped on virtual D-Pad to the non-intuitive item menus. The graphics bring nostalgic tears, though some old-favourites, like the plasma gun or the rocket launcher, have changed in visuals to better align with the later installments of the franchise. No support for the Retina display or fast app-switching (i.e. iOS4 multitasking) though, which is not surprising, considering the age of the game.

DOOM II RPG will find its rightful place on anyone’s iDevice. The gameplay mechanic is an excellent adaptation of FPSes (which, to be frank, suck on portable devices) for the platform, removing the craziness that is real-time first-person combat on a touchscreen device. Regardless on your stance on the genre, you’ll find yourself returning time and time again to DOOM II RPG, both to get another glimpse of your favourite nemeses and to uncover the truth behind the invasion.